A blog set up by 40k enthusiasts, for 40k enthusiasts.
Concentrating on the competitive side of the hobby, but in no way limited to it.

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Clan Wars Lessons Learned

My XV8 Commander - Man of the Match!

What
did I learn at the weekend?

·Flyers. I no longer fear flyers! Two of the
games I won (one against twin Helldrakes, the other against twin Stormravens)
would have given my marine army fits. This army simply swatted them out the
sky. Twin or triple Vendettas might still cause problems, but I think the time
of flyer dominance is over (thank god!).

·Newdar. Eldar are much improved with their new
codex. The outstanding units (of the ones I played at the weekend at least) are
Wave Serpents, Guardians, Warp Spiders and Guardian Jet Bikes. War Walkers put
out a lot of shots, but are fragile (a squad of Fire Warriors blew 2 of them
away with ease). Night spinners are also pretty effective. However, the main
change I think elder will bring to the meta is an increase in mechanised
armies. This is hardly news I know, but I saw it first hand at the weekend.
Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon Wave Serpents are really good, mowing down
infantry and light vehicles reasonably easily. Add in blade storming guardians,
and maybe some fire dragons and you have a pretty effective mechanised base. If
you also include a mix of night spinners, Fire Prisim’s and some reserved
Guardian Jet Bikes ….. well, that becomes pretty scary! Ask yourself this – in
the present meta of anti infantry fire, does you list have enough fire power to
take out 6+ AV12 hulls that all have a 4+ cover save simply from moving … and
are unlikely to die to one shot! My list certainly doesn’t.

·Demons. Sigh ….. hate this army… really,
really, hate it… but I think its going to get more and more popular. I need to
swot up on the codex, and play Little Geek some more.

·Riptides. Getting to like Riptides more and more.
As I’ve said before, XV8s are better in terms of sheer firepower, but Riptides
give you so many more tactical options.

·XV8s – but what Riptides don’t give you is a high volume
of S7 firepower. The double Death Rain squad in my list was death to Wave
Serpents, particularly with the Puretide Chip giving them Tank Hunter.

·SMS – I think these are crucial in a Tau list. Because
you are not particularly
mobile, being able to reach out 30” and kill stuff that is out of line of sight
and/or in cover, is fantastic.

·Fire Warriors. Still great, but you still need to be
careful when you get them out of their ‘fish. Best used mid to late game once
your Riptdies have killed the stuff that kills them.

·Ethereal. Again, still good, but was a bit of a liability
in Game 2, when he gave up 3 victory points when he died.

·XV8 Commander. The man of almost every match.

Implications
for my list?

The list
needs more anti armour. I think we’re going to see a lot more mech eldar
armies, and I just didn’t have enough fire power to put them down, or at least
enough platforms for that fire power. I’m beginning to wonder about the
Ethereal…. Not because he’s bad, the leadership buff and Storm of Fire are
amazing. However, I think the XV8 Commander might be better… and having 2 of
them… with Marker Drones…. hmmm!

So I’m
wondering if I can fit in 3 Riptides and 2 Double Death Rain Commanders with
Double Death Rain body guards …… and some Broadsides ….. and a Farseer, with
jet bikes ….. and loads and loads of Kroot!

2 comments:

Great article have really enjoyed reading your rants both here and on Warhammer Tau. Your ideas have brought me back to Tau and helpped me as a player. Played first game with the new Tau Dex last weekend against Deathwing, last time I played that list my wolves got tabled this time the Tau tabled them. Felt good kind of.

Anyway just wanted to say thanks EYIG for your rants they are helping someone at least.